Record Cutters (Shears)

[RandallMoffett]

SO I got one to start armouring again while here in England. My second cut through 16 gauge and the handle shears off part of the gear. I figure whatever there are ten more little parts that do the same thing, I grind it down(by hand no Angla grinder yet) and start anew. THis time three go almost in the same instant. It is rated for 16 gauge but appears not very keen to do so. I wrote the company that sold it to me and got 0 responses four days ago. Not sure if I can complain so I will wait a bit to see what happens. I did not pay a fortune but it ruffly came to 80-90 dollars depending on the exchange that day so I did expect it to at least to cut for a few months not two times. Just wondering it anyone had ever used record shears and had a problem similar and if they could repair them.
Second is if anyone on the AA works in metal fabrication and live in England and could give me an estimate of a part I designed to repair said POS gear set up. I really just want a small manual shear but HF shears are a fortune literally to send overseas it seems and the cutting wheels work very well it seems but the gear and handle set up are woefully lacking, one engineer I know said it likely was the poor materials that this overseas production puts into them as the record shears were very popular not to long ago here in England. Thanks in advance,
RPM

[Thomas H]

Randal, get a clarke 6" shear. sure, it can't cut corners but tis better than a jigsaw! We have one at work and it cuts 3mm bartsock too, which isn't too shabby for a £70 hand shear.

www.machinemart.co.uk has them, decent price too.

Alternatively, Frost auto restoration tools seels what is basically a beverly knock off for £100. not tried it yet but it looks decent enough.

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?productID=8905

[RandallMoffett]

Thomas,

Thanks for the links. I was looking at the clarke one but it looks like it would be hard to use for curves and unfortunatly that is something I am really looking for. Let me know if I am wrong in this assumption, it looks very similar to one I worked with in the metal shop I was in.
As to the frost beverly knock off, that is what I used in the states, worked great! I may go with it if I cannot get this piece made. They are very nice, I have cut up to 12 gauge mild with my HF one. It would be a good investment if I cannot get this other working, for 50 pounds it was not a bad price.
The piece is basically a 2 inch diameter by one inch length cylinder with two holes drilled through it and a small hole drilled in the top. I think the set up is good on the record shears it is just poorly made gear set up. I will ring the engineering department on campus and see if they have anything like it. With a bandsaw and a drill press I could likely make it in less than an hour. We will see,

RPM

[Thomas H]

I'll tell you if the clarke one does anyhting like a curve today (i'm off to get one). it probably won't end up pretty, but snipping it until it is round seems simple enough.

[Thomas H]

The clarke staight shear doens't do radii whatsoever. you just need to chop corners off and round it with a file/grinder. They are very well built for the price and cut barstock up to 8mm i think.

[RandallMoffett]

Thanks Thomas,

We will have to work on some stuff. I have been totally engulfed in my dissertation as some things came up and I had to switch the topic... long story. Talk to you later.

RPM

[Thomas H]

Definately need to meet up, swap notes kind of thing.

[HammerHand]

Randall- how much is it to ship across seas? Was your shear that broke made of cast iron or a low grade metal? PM me- I might be able to help you out with something, or I'll e-mail you.